CVE-2024-23875 is a high-severity Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in version 1.0 of Cups Easy (Purchase & Inventory), a software product used for managing purchase and inventory operations. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of user-supplied input in the web application, specifically in the 'issuanceno' parameter of the /cupseasylive/stockissuancedisplay.php endpoint. Because the input is not sufficiently encoded before being reflected in the web page, an attacker can craft a malicious URL containing executable script code. When an authenticated user clicks on this URL, the malicious script executes in their browser context, allowing the attacker to steal session cookies or perform other actions on behalf of the user. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.2 reflects the vulnerability's characteristics: it is remotely exploitable over the network without any privileges (AV:N/PR:N), requires user interaction (UI:R), and impacts confidentiality highly (C:H) with limited integrity impact (I:L) and no availability impact (A:N). The scope is changed (S:C), indicating the vulnerability affects resources beyond the vulnerable component. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, which covers improper neutralization of input during web page generation leading to XSS. Attackers exploiting this flaw can hijack user sessions, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive inventory and purchase data or performing unauthorized actions within the application under the victim’s identity.

For European organizations using Cups Easy (Purchase & Inventory) version 1.0, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to confidentiality and user session integrity. Successful exploitation can lead to session hijacking, enabling attackers to impersonate legitimate users and access sensitive business data related to purchasing and inventory management. This could result in unauthorized data disclosure, manipulation of inventory records, fraudulent transactions, or disruption of procurement processes. Given that the vulnerability requires an authenticated user to interact with a crafted URL, phishing or social engineering campaigns could be leveraged to target employees. The impact is particularly critical for organizations handling sensitive or regulated data, such as those in finance, manufacturing, retail, or supply chain sectors. Additionally, compromised user sessions could be used as a foothold for further lateral movement within corporate networks. The lack of availability impact means operational continuity might not be directly affected, but the confidentiality breach and potential integrity issues could have severe business and compliance repercussions under regulations like GDPR.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should first verify if they are running Cups Easy (Purchase & Inventory) version 1.0 and prioritize upgrading to a patched version once available from the vendor. In the absence of an official patch, immediate mitigations include implementing Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block malicious payloads targeting the 'issuanceno' parameter, especially those containing script tags or suspicious characters. Input validation and output encoding should be enforced at the application level to ensure all user inputs are properly sanitized before rendering. Organizations should also conduct user awareness training to reduce the risk of phishing attacks that could deliver malicious URLs. Additionally, enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) can limit the impact of stolen session cookies by requiring additional verification for sensitive operations. Monitoring web server logs for unusual requests to the vulnerable endpoint and anomalous user behavior can help detect exploitation attempts early. Finally, session management should be reviewed to ensure cookies are set with secure flags (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite) to reduce the risk of theft and misuse.